Simple and Clean
by Meilin R
Summary: The sequel to I Will Love You Always. After one year, the death of Tomo has affected everyone, especially Shinta. Is Tomo really dead? Will Syaoran be the next victim? Read to find out, don't forget to review!
1. Thinking of you

The young blonde girl sat and watched the training session going on from afar. She needed to think. Her dreams were so, weird lately. Tomo, her old boyfriend who died protecting her, kept coming to her in her dreams. She could never understand what he said, but last night, was the first night that she was able to understand him.

"Beware…danger…coming…I'll be…back…" His voice sounded muffled, and it sounded like a really bad radio transmission, but she knew that it was his voice. His message, but, what did it mean? A hand appeared on her shoulder, waking her from her thoughts. Shinta looked up at the young red haired man. His soft purple eyes looked at her with concern.

"I've noticed that you've been acting strangely…" Xing said slowly.

Shinta tried to ignore him. Ever since that day, one year ago, he took up the title as "brother". The three of them, Shinta, Xing, and Ice, have tried to make their lives as normal as possible, but still, even in the modern era, it seemed impossible. They needed their life, their time.

Seeing that Shinta didn't want to respond, he sat down next to her, and decided to watch the training session between Ice and Meiling. He knew, with time, Shinta would eventually open up, and tell them what was wrong with her. But for the time being, they could enjoy the tranquil moment.

- - -

Syaoran sat on the porch, watching Meiling and Ice train. After one year of training, she already made up for the last fifteen years, when her powers were dormant. They had been together for a year now, and Syaoran was certain, or at least at the moment, that she was the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with. She definitely changed, no longer so clingy to him. He could even talk to a girl with out having her yell at him, or her yelling at the girl. He figured it must have been due to Tomo's death. After all, he was the only one she was in love with besides him.

Even though he knew he should be at peace, the atmosphere lately was troubled. Shinta definitely knew something, but, she wasn't saying anything yet. Syaoran and Xing planned on trying to get out of her. But, it wasn't working…yet. He quickly glanced to the right, where Shinta and Xing sat in silence by the tree, watching Ice and Meiling. Xing saw Syaoran, and shook his head no. Syaoran sighed, she still wasn't saying anything. _That girl can be just as stubborn as Meiling sometimes…_he thought.

His attention went right back to the training session. Meiling was now trying to call up the powers of Fiery, so that she could beat Ice's powers. She wasn't doing such a good job, and was getting beat, badly.

"Master Li." Wei announced, startling the entranced boy.

"Yes, Wei?"

"You have a phone call from Japan. I believe it is Ms. Kinomoto?" Syaoran's eyes went wide in shock. Ever since Touya found out about the break up, he vowed that he'd make sure Sakura didn't contact any of the Lis. Then, he basically threw him into the plane, which quickly ended the "talk" they were having. Syaoran, wary of the whole situation, got up, and went inside.

The living room was rather large with little furnishing, a table in the middle with pillows to sit on, and a phone in the corner on top of an end table. Nobody was around, all the other Lis in the family were out doing god only knew what. He picked it up shakily, because he didn't talk to her in a year. Taking in a deep breath, he told himself it was just Sakura, and they were friends. Heck, he dated her for five years! That calmed him down.

"Hello?"

"Syaoran? I mean, Li-kun?" a female voice said on the other line. It was definitely Sakura.

"I thought your brother vowed he'd make sure you never talked to any Li as long as he lived?"

She laughed, "Well I finally told him that I really needed to talk to you in a stern manner."

That was amusing to him. "You talking in a stern manner? The Sakura I dated couldn't do that very well." He could see her frown at him in his head.

"Well, maybe this Sakura is different from the Sakura you dated."

"I doubt it. So, what did you want?"

There was a moment's hesitation. She wanted to tell him something, but thought better of it. Why did all of the girls know something?! It was driving him crazy. "Nothing much. Listen, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to be getting off soon…"

"Oh, so your brother doesn't know?" he said amused.

"Well…no, he doesn't. My dad does though. Could you tell your mother that I said yes, at 6 o'clock on Sunday?"

"What does that mean?" His mom and her were sharing secrets now? Since when? And when did his mom contact Sakura?

"I can't explain it right now, listen I just heard Touya come in. Bye!" Click. He heard a dial tone shortly after, and slowly put the phone down. What was going on here? Why wasn't he informed? After all he was going to be clan leader.

"Oh! There you are, Syaoran!" Meiling chirped from the doorway. She was weak, and gratefully plopped down onto one of the pillows. "I didn't see you after my training was done, and was just wondering where you were."

"On the phone. Have you seen my mom?"

"I believe auntie is in the garden…but I'm not too sure. Why?" she asked. He was acting like his old self, being so serious. Over the last year, she tried to loosen him up. He was way too stressed.

"I need to talk to her about something important." Meiling groaned. She knew what that meant. Another one of his arguments with Yelan.

"Don't be too loud this time, ok?" he smiled at her, and nodded, before walking out to the garden.

- - -

His mom was tending to some flowers when he spotted her.

"What do you want, Syaoran?"

"Sakura called. Told me to relay a message to you. Yes, at 6 o' clock on Sunday."

"That's good. What else do you want?" she asked, sensing that her son was here not just to relay a message Sakura had sent.

"What's going on?!" he yelled.

"She's just coming over to help with Meiling's training. After all, she does have all the Clow-excuse me, Sakura cards." she said calmly.

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?!" His mom got up, and turned to face him. In her hand was a peony, his favorite flower.

Handing it to him all she said was, "Why don't you ask Shinta about her dreams." and she left. _What does Shinta's dreams have to do with anything?! _he thought.

* * *

A/N: Well, there's the long awaited sequel! I hope you all enjoy it. I decided on doing it a bit more Syaoran oriented because let's face it, he has just as many (if not more) troubles than our dear Meiling. What will happen? The suspense! Oh yeah! Here's some shameless advertising: Check out my friend's Harry Potter fanfic! It's called, When Angels Fall or at least I think it is, and her penname is, Celticillusion1209. It's really good, why don't you read and review it? It'll make her happy, and besides, this is the first time she ever submitted anything for people to read. Took me a while to persuade her in doing it. Oh well. Don't forget to review mine as well!! 


	2. Sakura's Arrival

The argument he had with his mother less than a week ago, still plagued Syaoran's mind. _Why don't you ask Shinta about her dreams…that's what she said…_ he sat there in the airport, with an excited Meiling. It bothered him, yet, he seemed almost scared to ask Shinta about her dreams. He didn't understand it himself, but every time he came close to, something held him back it seemed.

"Aren't you excited, Syaoran?" Meiling asked, waking Syaoran from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." he said distractedly.

"What's wrong?" she sat down next to him, and put one of her hands on top of his. "Remember, you can tell me anything. I'm your fiancé after all."

"Just…weird…" he started. _It's not time to tell her yet…I'll have to lie. _"I'm used to me coming here, and seeing you greet me. That's all." She seemed satisfied with the answer, and went back to looking for Sakura. "The plane hasn't even landed…"

Meiling smiled at him. "I know, but I'm sure Sakura would be acting the same way if it was the other way around." _It's true…_he thought. An impatient Meiling kept checking the time, and walking around, as if afraid that if she were to stop, Sakura would never arrive.

After watching Meiling in amusement checking the time for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, an announcement was made. "Flight 26B is now here."

"Come on Syaoran!" Meiling shouted excitedly. She clutched his arm, and dragged him to the gate. He was a bit surprised at first.

"Meiling! She's staying with us, so it's not like she'll just leave!" She brushed off the comment, and quickly dodged a few people that were leaving the plane.

"SAKURA!" she yelled, while waving her hand. An emerald-eyed girl, looked up curiously in Meiling's direction, and hurried quickly over. Sakura hugged her Chinese friend, and then bowed to Syaoran. "You can hug him you know."

Sakura looked at Meiling surprised, and was even more surprised when Syaoran hugged her. "You two…have changed."

"We're just glad to see you." Syaoran said. "We'll get more situated at the house." The two girls nodded, and the trio headed out of the airport.

-

"I know…about your dreams, Shinta." Yelan said. Shinta sat on the porch, overlooking the driveway. She said nothing. Yelan continued, "It would be wise to let the others know, don't you think?"

"You haven't told them, why?" Shinta asked, still looking at the empty driveway.

"I believe it would be better for them to hear it from you."

"But…I don't even know what the dream means…"

"Have you not felt the strange power, lately?" Shinta didn't say anything. _Of course I have…I've just…ignored it all. _she thought bitterly.

"Does this have anything to do with the cherry blossom?"

"Yes, and no." Yelan walked away, just as the car was in view. _I guess I have to tell all of them today…_ Shinta thought. _But how do I tell them about…Tomo? _she sighed, as Meiling, Syaoran, Sakura, and Wei got out of the car.

-

"Master Jing?" a young girl said. Her face was hidden from the dim light of the room.

"Yes?" he sat, with his back facing the girl.

"Tomo has made contact with Shinta." she heard Jing sigh.

"When will that boy ever learn? Oh well…we could fit this nicely into our plan. We'll just have to take that Li earlier than planned."

"Yes sir." she started to leave, but Jing stopped her.

"Oh, and Fang?"

"Yes, Master Jing?"

"Try not to disappoint me like Yang-chan."

"Don't worry, master. I won't." she hurriedly walked out of the room, leaving Jing to his thoughts.

"That's what Yang-chan said…sometimes Fang…in chess…pawns have to go…" he said to himself, as he moved a pawn on the chessboard he was looking at.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the super long wait! I had a million things to do and was too caught up in my original story, so I sort of forgot. Anyways, I'll try my best to update now that I remembered. Sorry if this chapter seemed hurried, I was trying to think of something for you to read. Please review! 


	3. Shinta's Dream

Shinta sat in silence on the plush little sitting pillow in the Li household living room. Ice was beside her, and Xing was standing up, arms crossed. They all heard the slamming of the car doors and the laughter of two girls. The laughing quited for a moment, and the three inside heard Syaoran say something, and one of the girls were laughing again.

The door slid open, and Sakua, Meiling, and Syaoran walked into the living room. Sakura stopped laughing when she saw the grave faces of the ex-vampires. Meiling and Syaoran had already stopped where they were at.

"What's wrong?" Meiling asked.

"I...I have something...something important to tell all of you." Shinta proclaimed timidly. She looked at them, took a shaky breath, and waited. Shinta didn't know what she was waiting for, but it seemed like a good idea. She had no clue how she was going to tell all of them of her past events. Even she couldn't explain it herself. Shinta looked at her now, cupped hands, and took one more shaky breath. "Ok, I think Tomo may still be alive."

Meiling stiffened, and her eyes showed her surprise. Xing looked worriedly at Shinta, while Ice said nothing, she merely looked down at the ground.

"What makes you think that?" Syaoran asked, cautiously. He couldn't just say that it wasn't true, he didn't know how many nerves he'd touch, especially in a room full of people who had some emotional connection to him.

Shinta looked around the room, as if stalling. She wanted to choose her words carefully so that she didn't seem like some heart broken girlfriend that finally snapped. Taking another shaky breath, "In a dream...he kept coming to me. It was urgent, his words."

Meiling, Ice, and Xing seemed to be relieved. Their bodies relaxed, but Sakura was curious. Her eyebrows furrowed at the comment. "Did he grab you, or touch you in any way?" she asked. She didn't want to alert anyone, she just had to be sure. No, not sure, certain, before she told everyone of her dream experience that led her to her first visit in Hong Kong.

"No...not really. He just kept coming to me. Like, he wanted me to come to him. I was hesitant at first, so he came to me. The last time I had the dream, he started to grab my hand, but then I woke up."

Shinta watched as Sakura contemplated her words. "Tomo himself, might be dead. Though, he could be alive in spirit."

"What do you mean?" Meiling inquired. Sakura looked at her dear, Chinese friend.

"What I mean is, the first time I came to visit Hong Kong, wasn't by chance. It was by choice." Meiling started to say something, but Syaoran, shushed her. She looked at him a bit annoyed, but said nothing. "You see, I was sort of, beckoned by a lady's spirit to come to Hong Kong. She thought I was Clow Reed, and therefore, wanted me to release her from her seal. She didn't know that she was even dead."

"So...what you're saying is, Tomo's spirit is beckoning to Shinta?" Xing asked rather rudely. She looked at him, a bit uneasy at his manner. Slowly, Sakura started to nod her head. "You know, I have a confession to make. While you guys were at the hospital, visiting our dear, Meiling," Meiling looked at the floor quickly. She could tell everyone was noticing her, and before she wouldn't mind. She loved the attention. Anything that could get her a place in the lime light was great, but ever since she was with Syaoran and obtained her powers, all that attention seemed to be embarrassing to her. Meiling placed her hands on her face, and felt her skin burn, under her finger. Syaoran grabbed her, and protected her from eyes by hiding her in his arms. She could feel he was smiling at her, though she didn't look. "I was at the house, cleaning up our little messes. I was going to follow through with the plan of cremating them, by placing Tomo and Yang-Chan downstairs in the kitchen and then burning the house. But, when I came, I found Yang-Chan's body already turned to ash. Tomo's body was nowhere to be found.

"So, I went in the basement, where our coffins were, and checked to see if the others were fine. Turns out, we were the only ones that turned human. All the others were ashes." The group said nothing. Ice slowly got up, and left. The shock of everything hit her, and she didn't know what to feel. Should she feel happy? Scared?

"So, we were the only ones that were changed into humans." Shinta slowly said.

"But, is there a purpose to that?" Syaoran inquired. Meiling shrugged.

"Time will only tell." Xing finished.

"If anything comes up, something important in the dream, tell me. Ok?" Sakura told Shinta. Shinta nodded.

Meiling smiled brightly. "I'm sure nothing too bad can happen to us. Besides, it seems all of our enemies are gone. Come here Sakura, I'm going to show you, your room!" Meiling led Sakura out of the room, and in an instant, the two were talking in a frenzy again.

Syaoran and Xing stayed lingered a bit. "Was this the thing that has been bothering you, lately?" Xing asked. Shinta nodded. "Anything else?" She shook her head.

"Next time, tell us what's going on. Do you have any clue how sick we were?" Syaoran demanded. Over the past year, this blonde had become one of his sisters. Only, less annoying. A lot less. When Meiling and him couldn't see eye to eye with one another, she'd secretly give him advice. He knew it must have been very hard for her to see the two so happy together, when she herself had just lost her one and only.

Shinta couldn't say anything. Although she had to get used to this time, since she couldn't remember anything when Yang-Chan took over her, and therefore, nothing about this modern world, Syaoran and Meiling were there to help her. Xing and Ice were patient with her as well, and together, the three of them were trying to make a new life in this time. It made her feel guilty that she had made Xing and Syaoran worry about her so. "I'm sorry." she finally muttered.

Xing smiled, and slung his arm around her. "It's ok. But, we're family now. We look out for each other. How can your two "brothers" look out for you, if you don't tell us your problems? Hm?" She smiled at him, and shrugged. "I'll tell you how. We can't! We're men, men don't read women's minds. We've been trying to do that for ages, and the closest we've gotten is Syaoran!"

Syaoran frowned at him. Xing just gave him a cheesy smile.

- - -

Ice heard footsteps coming toward her. They stopped outside the hallway, and a door slid open. Two people, who were laughing, stumbled into a room, and the door slid back closed. Ice figured that it was Meiling and Sakura. How strange, she thought. She had been told many stories about how much Meiling hated Sakura. She just couldn't stand her. And, poor Sakura, always used to being liked by other people, didn't know what to do. Sakura had tried her best to befriend the stubborn Chinese maiden. Now look at how the two get along. It's as if Meiling never had a grudge on her.

She sighed. To think that Tomo might actually be alive. Yes, it excited her, but she knew she'd just be saddened if he was. Ice knew that it was never meant to be between her and Tomo. After all, even though he had been told time and time again that Shinta was dead, he still had hope that she was alive. His hopes had been fruitful, and now, Shinta was alive and well. Yet, in saving Shinta, it was his life that had been sacrificed.

Besides, even when they were vampires, he had started to fall for Meiling. Ice was nothing like the two girls. She was different. Unlike the other three, Xing, Shinta, and Tomo, Ice had been cursed for a very long time. A time when demons were still thriving in the country. Now, that time was gone. She sighed. As she looked back at her time on this world, she was now waiting patiently for the time when she'd be free of everything.

More footsteps were coming, and they too stopped outside the hallway. This time, the door to her room slid open, and in came Xing. The big brother figure. With his victorious expression, it seemed he and Syaoran broke Shinta's armor. Now, he sat, and watched her. Probably thinking of a way to get to me, she thought sadly. It was true, Tomo's death had affected her in the greatest way. Now, she just wished more than ever to be back in her time.

"Well? What's wrong?" Xing asked out of the blue.

"Nothing." she replied curtly.

He sighed. "Still being stubborn, hm? Well, you know where to find me if you need me." he got up slowly, and left just as Sakura and Meiling were leaving. Her mind was screaming at her to go and talk to him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not yet. Her demonic pride kept from doing that. Instead, Ice bit her lip, and let depression take over her.

* * *

A/N: Sorry everyone for the super long wait! Though, I don't think it was that long a wait as it was for the second chapter, was it? As I told Jen, I did have the third chapter finished, but then my computer crashed and there it went. Me being me, I didn't have a back up of it, so I had to strain my brain to try to remember what I had put. Now that I look at the newer version of this, I think this was better. So in a way, having my computer crashing was a good thing. Now, I'd like to thank everybody for reviewing! Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as long of a wait! Please review! 


	4. One Wish

The wind swept gently over the Li household. Meiling basked in the breeze. She really enjoyed her new found powers and was waiting in the sky for Sakura to attack. She saw the brunette contemplating her moves, and after a few seconds came into the air as well. They smiled.

"I thought you might need to learn how to fight in the air." Sakura said.

Meiling frowned. "Are you still worried about Shinta's dreams?" Sakura nodded sheepishly, knowing her Chinese friend would see through her thoughts. In an instant, fire blazed through the sky as both attacked with fire. They broke away, and quickly the sky became a war zone.

Syaoran looked at the two in the sky. Meiling and Sakura were giving it their all. Sakura was competitive, and wanted to prove that she was the better of the two since, after all, she was the one with the powers first. But, Meiling was competitive as well, probably even more than Sakura, with sheer determination, pride, and stubbornness. He sighed, this was not going to be a very light training at all with Sakura around.

He was about to make his way into the house again, when he saw Ice. She had disappeared the night before and Xing told him something was wrong with her. _One girl's problem is gone, the other is just starting..._ Xing had told him last night. Syaoran smiled at the thought. Girls were complicated. _Too complicated. _

Ice saw Syaoran and quickly left again, giving him a look that told him he shouldn't follow her. He sighed again. There was no end to the drama with three ex-vampires added to their household it seemed. He sensed a presence coming down to him very quickly. Syaoran looked upward, to see Meiling plummeting down from the sky. Sakura was trying her best to accelerate so that she could catch her, but Syaoran knew she'd never make it.

Using his quick reflexes, Syaoran ran under her, and caught her just in time. She was light and breathing heavily. Sakura came down in a flash, looking at Meiling in his arms worriedly.

"She was in the middle of summoning something...and then...she fell."

"She just fell?" Syaoran asked. Sakura nodded her head. "Do you think she used too much magic and just reached her limit?"

"No way. I asked Yelan how strong of an aura Meiling had so that I knew how far too push her. Your mother told me she had enough to push her as far as I wanted. I was just warming up."

Syaoran looked worriedly at Meiling. Her breathing was heavier, and she looked paler. They took her immediately into the house.

"Mom! MOM!" Syaoran yelled frantically.

His mom came into the room, rather annoyed that he was yelling for her. "Syaoran! You know better than to yell-" she stopped, and gasped at the Meiling. In the few seconds that it took for her to get there, Meiling got worse.

Yelan swiftly went to Meiling's side and inspected her with a keen eye. "She's been cursed." The others looked at Meiling worriedly. "The person who did this is still around."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me. This looks like a threat. If you want to save her life, go out now!" Syaoran ran out the living room and into their backyard. The place where they always trained. A young woman stood at the edge of the yard. Her long, straight, black hair glistened in the wind. But what shocked Syaoran the most was her eyes. They were black, just like the others when they were cursed. A vampire.

She smiled wickedly at him. Her green body came toward him slowly. "Syaoran, I've been waiting to meet you." Shinta came running out of the house hurriedly and stopped when she saw the mysterious woman. The woman looked at her interestingly. "Shinta...we've heard so much about you..."

Shinta and Syaoran looked at each other quickly. Neither of them had ever seen this woman.

"I thought all the vampires were gone." Syaoran started.

"You thought wrong. What? You think Yang-I mean Chansa, now, was at the top of the ladder?" Syaoran didn't know what to think anymore. "I'll let Meiling live on one condition."

Shinta didn't like the way things were going. This woman's curses were effective quickly meaning she could do some powerful dark magic. Then again, with her powers combined with Meiling's, she'd be even more powerful. Wouldn't she? "You're bluffing." Shinta announced.

Syaoran and the woman looked at her surprised. "Shinta, what are you talking about?"

"I might not know much on magic, but I do know if she did curse Meiling, then she must have-"

"Done it quickly? You know, what if I cast a curse on her a few hours prior? Hm? I still have the upper hand because you don't know anything about my powers. Let alone, even if I do have them." Shinta stared intently at the ground.

Syaoran saw what Shinta was going at, but it was true at what this strange woman had said. To make a curse, one needed a piece of the person that they were going to curse. Perferably a piece of the victim's hair. She could have easily slipped by them all while they were all asleep. "Well, what do you want?" he asked in a rather rushed tone. He was worried of Meiling's health. Whatever Shinta came out here for, she must have forgot, because she seemed in no hurry to tell him anything.

The woman sighed. "Well, I did want something else, but that'll have to wait. Shinta, I'm surprised to see you here. You know what Tomo's one wish was?"

Shinta's eyes widened, and it felt as if her heart had stopped. "Wh-What?"

"To see you." Syaoran was a bit leery of this, but Shinta saw no harm in it.

"He's alive!"

The woman nodded. "And he's waiting to see you. Come with me and Meiling goes free..." That was all she wanted. To see him again and to be with him.

"Shinta, he's dead! Don't do it!"

"What do you know Syaoran? Sakura even said he could be alive! Don't you care about your dear Meiling?" she told him rather coldly.

He winced. Shinta and him had become just as close as a brother and sister, and it hurt to hear her talk like that to him. Sure, it was true that he didn't want Meiling to get hurt, but he didn't want her to get hurt either. "So, what is it?" the woman asked.

"I'll go." Shinta walked defiantly toward the woman and smiled once more to Syaoran. "They call me Fang." Shinta looked shocked and tried to flee, but Fang grabbed her swiftly by the arm. She threw a smoke bomb just as Syaoran was running to save Shinta from Fang's grasp, but as the smoke cleared, she and Shinta was gone.

* * *

A/N: I'd just like to point out she really doesn't have a green body. She was wearing all green, just in case if somebody didn't catch that. Well, this update was a lot more faster than my other ones, and summer is almost here! That means, about one update every week, if I'm lucky. Thank you Sam and JovianShe-Wolf for reviewing! Please, keep up the reviews so I know how well this story is coming along. I love reviews. They help me a lot in my writing.


	5. The Walking Dead

Shinta looked around her surroundings. Did that raven head really call herself Fang? If so, she was in deep trouble. She didn't know, she just somehow...knew. The place looked so familiar, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to remember any of it. Maybe she was here once before when she was a vampire. That seemed reasonable.

It was an elaborate, Victorian themed, room. There was a closet to her right, and she walked there. Taking the cool, golden handles into her hand, she carefully turned it. Inside were rows of Victorian dresses. What happened? Was she sent back in time? She didn't remember anyone having that sort of power, but then again, she couldn't remember much of anything from her little spell.

Her eyes absorbed everything. The delicate canopy over the bed, the lace that seemed to be everywhere. The chair that was near the vanity table looked almost porcelain. The setting sun's rays beamed into her room. That only gave her the sense of direction her room was in. And that didn't help matters at all.

Shinta went to the doors. The handles were more elaborately crafted, but still golden. They felt colder than most handles, even the closet ones. That was awkward. _Why would that be? _she pondered. Turning the handle, she found that it was locked from the outside. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't fly out of here, and unlike Ice, she didn't have demonic powers. There was only one thing left to do. Sit and wait.

- - -

Syaoran mentally slapped himself. How could he do nothing and let Shinta run off with Fang? For now, he could do nothing. Yet, he was also grateful that Shinta went. Now Meiling was fine. That is, if Fang had kept up her part of the deal. He guiltily walked back on over to the house.

Meiling's breathing was becoming regular again, and she had regained consciousness much to Syaoran's relief. His mother said nothing, and just simply left. He knew that she'd talk with him later. For now, she'd let him relax. But just for now.

Xing was the first to notice Shinta's disappearance. "Where is she?"

Syaoran tried to look into his face, but couldn't bring himself to do it. "A woman, by the name of Fang, took her." An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Although none could remember Fang, it still struck fear in the ex-vampires.

- - -

The door knocked. Was this a joke? "Come in..." Shinta said with a hint of anger. She watched as the door handle turned, stopped, and finally the door swung open. The person that had just walked in was the person she least expected it to be. Tomo.

- - -

"Are you sure that the woman you saw said her name was Fang?" Xing questioned again with more authority. Syaoran nodded his head. In order for her to let out some frustration, Meiling insisted that she and Sakura train somewhere. Sakura tried to tell her that she should rest, but Meiling's pride got the better of her, and the sky had turned into a war zone again.

"What's the story behind Fang?" Syaoran asked.

Xing shrugged. "I told you, I only remember the name..."

"Nothing else?" Xing shook his head.

"Nope." The tension Syaoran felt about this situation didn't help matters. In fact, he wanted to let out his frustration out like Meiling. He really wished they were still running around collecting Clow Cards again.

"I know who Fang is." a feminine voice said from behind them. The two boys whipped their heads around to see Ice. Her composure was more calm, and lately they noticed, she was getting more and more quiet. But still, she never once came and talked to Xing about it. Now however, she wanted to talk of her memories.

- - -

Tomo walked up to Shinta, who was now trying to get away from him. Too late. He had pinned her to the bed. "Why won't you look at me, my love?" he asked seductively. He breathed onto her neck, sending her shivers down her spine. But, Tomo was dead. Wasn't he?

"Who are you?" she queried.

His gaze looked up to meet her eyes. "I'm Tomo. Your, Tomo." he answered while letting his hands roam her body.

She didn't like this one bit. Shinta snatched both of his hands, startling him. "Tomo is dead." she said defiantly.

"Then I must be the walking dead..."

- - -

A ball of lightning hit a force field in the sky. Neither girl wanted to be the one to throw in the towel. Yet, they both knew they weren't going to hold for much longer.

"Fang is probably equal to Yang-Chan...Yet, she never had her own little band of vampires. I believe she serves under the high vampire." Ice began.

"Dracula?" Xing questioned. It was more of a joke than a question, but Ice didn't catch it, and Syaoran only showed a small smile.

"No, though I suppose he's the highest vampire of the world...No, I'm talking about the king of vampires in this region only. You know, Asia." she clarified.

Syaoran leaned back against a wall. "So, this 'king' you say, is the highest source of power in all of Asia when we're speaking of vampires." Ice nodded. "So, who's the highest source of power, period?"

Ice smiled lightly. "I believe you'll be marrying her?" Syaoran and Xing looked in the sky to see Meiling holding her own to Sakura's magic. She was definitely showing that if given the chance, she probably was the better cardcaptor. "Watch over her, I'm sure that Jing will be after her again soon..." she said before leaving just as mysteriously as she had come.

"Jing?" Syaoran and Xing asked in unison to each other.

- - -

Tomo kept advancing on Shinta, but Shinta finally pushed him off of her. "What do you think you're doing! This is not the way MY Tomo acted!"

He merely looked at her for a second, before grabbing her arms and quickly pinning her to the wall. Tomo leaned his head to her and urgently whispered, "I'm sorry, but I have to act like this for now. When I know I'm not being watched, I'll gladly act like your Tomo. Play along..."

She really didn't have to act surprised or shocked. Still, if they were both going to act..."What are you going to do to me? Rape me?"

Tomo looked at her, a bit taken aback at her sudden enthusiasm at playing along. He quickly regained composure. "No, you're not worth it." he spat, and threw her down on the ground. She looked hurt, and Tomo wanted to run right on over to her, and hold her. "Just remember this, you'll either take the new Tomo, or I'll turn you into the new Shinta..."

With that, he left. Shinta's heart was racing in her chest. What was going on?

* * *

A/N: Yup, I'm back! Aack, I don't know where this story is going anymore! Isn't that horrible? So, I guess I'm winging it! Hopefully, I'll figure out what where this story is going to go soon. I do hope that you enjoyed it though! Don't worry, I DO know why Tomo was acting the way he was. So, don't worry there, ok? Hm...I noticed nobody reviewed on the last chapter! Was it that horrible! I hope not!

Anyways, if you don't already know, I have an original story on Since, I have friends interested in both my fanfics and that original story, I decided to make it easier on everyone and have a nice collective of my stories on one site. It even has previews of up and coming fics! What is this site you ask! Why, it's called Mare's Soul! my shameless advertising done, I do hope you all review (hint, hint) this chapter. I love reviews! It makes me feel that people DO read my stuff...Anyways, until next time!


	6. Puppet

The night was delightfully cool. Sakura had just come in the house with Meiling from a day's worth of shopping. They plopped down on the ground together as soon as they set foot in the house. The bags were in a disarray around them, and they couldn't help but laugh. Light footsteps came closer, and the light was turned on. Meiling looked up into the eyes of her wolf.

"You two looked like you had fun." said Syaoran. Meiling nodded.

"Mei got you some clothes..." Sakura taunted. She knew that Meiling loved clothes. She was pretty up to fashion on most things, but she knew nobody was up to on the latest fashion than Tomoyo. She smiled, just thinking of her dear friend back in Japan. Sakura also knew that Syaoran somewhat didn't like Meiling always buying things for him. Of course he liked them, but it did make him a bit uncomfortable with her always buying things for him, while he, on the other hand, hardly bought anything for her.

"Again?" he asked Meiling.

"Again." she answered happily. "I'll give them to you when I sort everything out."She and Sakura attempted to get up, only to drop down in exhaustion again. This caused another fit of giggles from the two girls.

Syaoran offered both hands to the girls, who gratefully took it. After heaving them both up, he helped them with their stuff. With no surprise, Meiling ended up with more bags, and Syaoran had to help her drag her stuff to her room.

As they reached the hallway of rooms, Sakura announced she was going to bed for the night. The trio told their goodbyes and Sakura left into her room. Meiling and Syaoran walked silently to Meiling's room, enjoying the company of each other.

"What are you doing up this late?" Meiling said quietly, trying to start some conversation.

"Waiting for you, of course." he answered.

She slid the door to her room open, and they both dumped the bags on her bed. "Just dump everything out of the bags. It'll be easier to sort that way." Syaoran did as he was told, while Meiling quickly sorted everything that was coming out. She started to hum, and like a secretary alphabetizing files, she put all the items efficiently away.

In only four minutes, she had everything sorted and put away. There was a little pile of clothes on her bed. The shirts were mostly green, Syaoran's favorite color. He took them from her when she offered them. Giving her a light peck on the forehead, he went outside of her room to allow her some privacy to change. In a couple of minutes, her head popped out of her room. Syaoran went back inside and, as the usual night routine went, he tucked her in.

"Syaoran...?" whispered Meiling, as if afraid to talk loudly in the silence.

"Hm?"

"Do you love me?"

He looked at her curiously. Her raven hair fanned out around her, and her ruby eyes shone with worry. To him, she was the most beautiful thing on Earth. He embraced her, and whispered in her ear, "Of course I do, Mei. Why do you ask?"

She shivered under him. It always tickled her neck when he whispered into her ear. "Well...you and Sakura seemed to have hit off well...it's just that, now that we're together, will you leave me too? We're still young. What if you find out that I'm not the one for you. What if there's someone out there, who's more suited for you, than me?"

He released her from his hug, and sat up. He still didn't know where this was all coming from, but thinking of his time with Sakura, he seemed to understand. "There's no one more suited for me, than you, my little bird." He laid a gentle kiss on her lips and headed out of her room.

The journey to his room seemed endless. Maybe it was because he was tired. Maybe it was because he couldn't get Meiling's voice out of his head. The thought of him hurting her again seemed, silly. No, after all these years, he was more than certain that she was the one for him. Besides, the last time he actually slept in his own bedroom, in his house, other than the bedroom that he used when he was in the main Li house, was last year. He did go there occasionally, but until Meiling's room was finished in his house, he vowed he'd stay here, with her.

Lazily, he slid the door to his room open. After what seemed like hours, he found the switch for the light. After turning on the light, he was surprised by what he saw in front of him.

Fang was sitting on his bed, her long hair flung behind her. Her legs were crossed and she leaned back, smirking at him. "Syaoran...I was wondering when you'd get here. Were you doing something naughty with your little bird?"

He turned a brilliant shad of red. "I could say the same to you. What were you doing with Jing?" he queried. She was wearing a rather seductive green Chinese mini dress. She glared at him.

"You know about Jing, huh?" Syaoran nodded. "Well, I'll cut to the chase." she got up and advanced toward him. She forcefully grabbed his hair, and pulled his face toward hers. Syaoran tried as hard as he could to get the vampire off of him, but amazingly, she held more strength. "Why don't we have a bit of fun? Hm? How about having you hurt your little bird, one last time, hm? Wouldn't that be fun?" she whispered seductively into his ear.

"Get off of me." he growled.

"Seems the wolf is having trouble getting off of my grip. Not to worry, I'll be leaving you soon." She smiled, revealing two long fangs. She bit down on his neck, savoring the taste of his blood in her mouth. It had been awhile since the last time she had human blood.

Syaoran's eyes rolled in the back of his head, unable to stay conscious. When she was done feeding, she dropped him. "I know it's not uncommon for you to wear those high collar types. Wear them. And when I say to do something, do it? Understand, my puppet?" she taunted, while wiping her mouth. He said nothing and just lay there, staring at her feet. "You should put up those clothes you dropped. Get some sleep, you'll be needing it." With that, she left just as quietly as she had come.

Syaoran moaned, and sluggishly grabbed the clothes he had dropped. With the movement of a sloth, he folded all of it, and put them in his drawers. After that, he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

A/N: This is the shortest chapter yet, sorry! I'm trying to balance my time, and it doesn't seem to be working...The drama will be getting heavier, and so I'm trying to figure all that out. Hopefully, I'll be able to update a little bit sooner. I hope you like it and sorry if Syaoran does seem to be a little weak, I just didn't know what to do with him in that situation. (Aack!) Anyways, please review!


	7. Lover's Quarrel

Everything was tense in the morning. Everyone noticed the distance that the once happy couple, had put between each other and in such short of time. At breakfast time, Meiling had cooked up a breakfast fit for royalty. It contained a lot of Syaoran's favorite foods, and of course they were all Chinese. Sakura had never had such a breakfast in her life, and enjoyed tasting everything.

Syaoran made no comment of the breakfast. He would have even acknowledged it before by asking Meiling what the occasion was for. But none came. He ate it quietly, put his dishes in the sink, and didn't even give Meiling her peck on the cheek. No smirk, no nothing.

It was around the afternoon when havoc started. Nobody uttered a word of Syaoran's behavior, afraid that they would bring upon bad luck. They did have their suspicions, but kept it quietly to themselves, and decided to just observe the two.

Meiling had been fed up with this. Was he trying to mess with her head? What was wrong with him? She found him, staring dreamily at the gate outside. He sat there on the porch, head leaning against a pole. She almost couldn't even bring herself to disturb him, but she wanted to end this. What was the matter with him?

"Syaoran?" she timidly asked.

He looked at her with pure venom. Even when he hated it when she had clung to him as adolescents, he had never looked at her like that. She flinched slightly. Had she done something wrong? "What do _you _want?" he asked icily.

"Is...there something wrong?"

His head fell to his right. Closing his eyes, he brung his head back to her, and looked at her again. Syaoran slowly heaved himself up and walked right up to her. Staring right into her eyes, he told her, "Yeah, there's something wrong. It's you." Her eyes opened in surprise. Had she gone overboard with the shopping this time? "Don't act surprised. I hate you. I hate everything about you."

"Syaoran..."

"DON'T CALL ME SYAORAN! FROM NOW ON, IT'S LI-KUN! DO YOU GOT THAT MEILING-CHAN?"

Sakura had been searching for Meiling for awhile, when she heard the shouts. What was going on? Meiling had always been the only girl who had been able to call him Syaoran for the longest time. She didn't even think he allowed his sisters to call him by his first name.

"Bu-But..."

"BUT WHAT!"

Meiling's voice seemed so frail, Sakura could tell that she was choking up. She decided to hurry up to the source. Sakura finally saw them, Meiling bursting into tears, Syaoran looking at her like she was nothing but trash.

"Syaoran! What did you do!" she yelled, as she ran to comfort the little raven head. But Syaoran seemed to take no notice in what she was doing, but this time looked at Sakura with much interest.

He grabbed her viciously, ripping her away from Meiling, and turned her so that she was facing him. "You were always so beautiful..." he said seductively, while having his finger trail down her figure. Sakura looked disgustedly at him.

"I don't have a clue what has gotten into you, _Li-kun, _but I liked the old you better." she spat before pulling him away from her. She grabbed a rather tearful Meiling away and after taking a last look back at him, took her into the house.

- - -

"How's the operation going?" Tomo finally asked Fang when he could get her alone. He hated the girl. Every time they were together, she flirted openly with him and trying every possible way to seduce him. But he'd never fall for it. He was still loyal to Shinta, and it hurt him to be hurting her. Though he didn't know it, Shinta was enjoying the time that they had together, despite the fact that she had to pretend to be hurt by his words.

Fang looked up surprised to find him behind her. She was looking into a deep bowl, filled with some sort of invisible liquid. A mist was emitting from it. From there, she could easily watch Syaoran, and tell him what to do. She smiled at him, acting the way she always did when he was around. "It's going perfectly well. In a few short days, Meiling should be so depressed, that she'll be ours."

Now, he was going to ask the question that had been probing his mind for awhile. He'd ask Jing himself, but that was easier said than done. You never knew what new outburst he'd put on. What did they want with Shinta? "You never told me, why'd you bring Shinta here?"

Fang smiled lightly at him. "I thought you'd appreciate it. After all, that was your one wish, was it not?" she cocked her head and looked at him innocently.

"So it was, but I have a feeling that there's another reason why you've brought her here...are you going to tell me?"

She shrugged, and continued to stare at the events taking place in the Li household. It took everything Tomo had to not hit her, and leave the room as calmly as possible so as not to raise suspicion that they're spell had not worked on him.

Fang heard the door close. Making sure he was gone, she pressed a button under the table. "What, Fang?" Jing's voice said annoyed.

"Tomo's asking questions Jing."

"Don't worry about it." With that the connection was cut. Fang frowned, but didn't dare to bug him again.

Jing on the otherhand, turned his chair around and faced the chessboard once again. He had known Tomo wasn't under the spell. After all, it was he who had placed it on him. Jing had pretended to perform the spell while Fang was there. It was all a part of his plan. Tomo didn't know it, and he could suspect surprise from him when he realized he had control of his body still.

Carefully studying the board, he moved a black pawn and took the white queen.

"Check." he muttered to himself, smiling slightly.

- - -

Sakura had managed to take the Chinese maiden into her room, where now, she was finally calm. Meiling was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her hands, and saying nothing. Sakura had attempted to have Meiling tell her what was wrong, but she didn't have the same amount of charm Tomoyo had when it came to such matters. Thinking back, she wondered how in the world Tomoyo could stay so calm, and seem so unworried when things like this happened.

"Li-kun..." Meiling muttered. A small tear fell from her eye to her hand.

"Now, I'm sure he was just kidding, Mei! Every couple has their little fight every now and then..." she told her doubtfully.

"Did you?" Meiling timidly asked while still staring at her hands.

"Well...no...but I'm sure if we stayed together longer, we would have!" This of course was not true. They both knew Syaoran wasn't the type to have the girl he loved angry. He was always sweet and there. He knew what to say and always brightened their life when he was there.

Meiling saw through Sakura's attempts at trying to comfort her. Still she smiled at her, trying to let Sakura not worry about her so, and told her that she could leave. Sakura argued that she should stay, but Meiling shook her head and told her that she was fine, and what she wanted right now was a little time to herself.

Sakura finally complied, and left the ruby eyed girl to herself. With a sigh, she layed in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her conversation with Syaoran last night came back into her head.

_"There's no one more suited for me, than you, my little bird." _

Depression finally hit her, and she realized that she now felt as alone as she did when she thought nobody cared for her.

- - -

Ice was like a walking enigma. Xing kept watching over her, but when the shouts erupted from the porch, Ice didn't seem surprised. In fact it seemed she had been expecting it.

"You know what's going on, don't you?" he finally told her after finding her alone.

She nodded.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"They're out to get all four."

"All four what? And who's they?"

She didn't answer, but instead left in the direction of Meiling's room. Xing watched her perplexed. What exactly was going on?

* * *

A/N: First off, I'd like to thank red lantern and Inuyasha's Babe for writing in their reviews. Not only were those reviews helpful in giving me some creativity, but it also helped in keeping up what I thought to be a dying story. So, thank them! Anyways, I had this chapter name up for as long as I can remember, and I just didn't know what to write for it! Awful huh? But now that I'm inspired again, be expecting the next chapter soon! Remember to review, I love to read them, and it helps keep up my inspiration! 


	8. In the Still of the Night

"Stop crying over him." Ice spat at Meiling as she entered her room. Meiling looked up at Ice in amazement. The demon had never spoken in that tone before to anybody, lest of all Meiling. Besides, it was at Meiling's insistence that the ex-vampires live with them until they thought they could support themselves. Life with them had been joyous. "Don't look at me like that..."

"Bu-But..."

"Look, don't even think that I don't know what you're going through. Amazingly enough, you and Sakura aren't the only heart broken women around here."

Meiling continued to stare at her with wide eyes. She had completely forgotten about Ice's feelings for Tomo. It must have hurt her to see Tomo go to Meiling so willingly, after being faithful to Shinta for so long.

Ice sighed in frustration. "Alright. Here's the scoop. I know what's going on, and because you've been so nice to me, I'll let you in on it." Meiling looked warily at her. "There are people after you, until Jing gets what he wants, he's not going to stop. Syaoran's sudden change is all part of his elaborate scheme to get to you. But don't play it his way. Move on. There are other guys besides Syaoran."

Meiling looked at the demon girl menacingly. Did she have any compassion? "Look, Syaoran and me were meant to be together! I don't care who wants me, but I'll take this as a test of our love! Got that? And if I want to be a part of his plan, then I will!"

"But, Meiling, don't you see-"

"I CAN SEE FINE, THANK YOU! NOW GET OUT!"

Ice looked bitterly at the stubborn Chinese maiden in front of her. If things turned out for the worst, then she couldn't possibly blame her, because after all, it was she who gave Meiling the warning. With a sharp turn, she walked out of the room, and out of the house. After that night, nobody saw Ice, she left like a chance breeze on a hot and humid day. Meiling continued to sit on her bed, not knowing that the decision she had set that night, would change her life.

Hot tears fell from her eyes. She didn't know what to do."It's just like before.." she quietly said to no one in particular. Her painful childhood flashed before her eyes, and then sadness subsided into anger. She wasn't angry at Syaoran. She was angry at herself for putting all those frivolous thoughts into her own head. She should have known better that Syaoran would go on and move to another girl.

Ice's words seemed to linger in the room. Syaoran's change was a part of some elaborate scheme? What did that mean? Was he doing this to help the enemy, or was the enemy controlling him, just like they had do to her one year ago? Still, she couldn't help but have the pain of Syaoran leaving her again to leave. It kept eating at her very soul, until she drove herself into a depressive state. But it didn't end there. Suicidal thoughts ran through her head. It seemed the ideas seemed to get more and more elaborate. There was no stop to it. A life without Syaoran, was like having no life at all.

- - -

_Meiling...MEILING! I have to get to her!_ Syaoran's thoughts raced. He hated that he had no control over his body. Only his thoughts remained his, at least for the time being. Syaoran witnessed everything he did, the screaming at her until she felt like a child. He even remembered feeling Sakura's body on his fingers. He shuddered. Not even when they were together did he ever do that. He could still feel her.

Her crying had finally subsided and he was getting more and more anxious. He felt a need to go and comfort her. But, as he tried to tell his muscles to move, they wouldn't. They forced him to stay there, standing by her door, looking at it coldly. Then, by some sort of miracle, his hands found their way to the door knob, now they were turning it, and he soon found himself in her room.

She looked up at him. Her face was tear streaked. Syaoran didn't say a word, but instead walked closer to her.

He seemed to happy when he grabbed her. Finally, he had some control over his body, but when he looked at the trembling girl under his hands, he knew something was wrong. He still didn't have any control over his body. What was that vampire preparing for him to do now?

Tears came rolling down her eyes, as he watched in horror that his hands had slowly found their way up her skirt. She didn't move. She couldn't. He supposed he had a stare that told her not to say a word or to move. Suddenly, he wished that he was somebody else. Wasn't there a way to stop his senses? He didn't want to know what he was going to do to her. She was too innocent and meant the world to him.

"Syaoran..." she whimpered when his hands reached her panty line. He could feel her body trembling with fear. Her small frail voice announced that she wasn't ready for this, that she didn't like what he was doing. Why wasn't he stopping? Why had he suddenly had the idea to do this to her?

His breathing increased. Syaoran wanted to cry, but he was even denied that. Instead, he watched as Meiling's ear came closer to his mouth, and he found himself whispering seductively, "Don't worry. It'll be all over soon..."

She felt like this was going to be the end. The person she thought she loved was going to rape her right here, right now. None of her powers or her strength was going to help her now. It seemed they all dwindled when they saw him, when he touched her. She was nothing but a bundle of fear, awaiting the terrible outcome, and then hopefully, she'd die. She clenched her eyes shut.

Nothing happened. Syaoran's hand left her legs. Had he finally come to his senses? There was a small crash, and she finally dared to open her eyes. On the ground was Tomo with a small trail of blood coming from his temple. Scattered pieces of her porcelain lamp were on the floor. Syaoran looked at him with utter hatred. Or maybe it was jealousy. In the corner of the room was an Asian woman with pale skin. She seemed to like green very much, and almost resembled a seductive snake to Meiling.

The woman looked at Meiling and smiled. "I think you're ready to come with me."

"Wha-what?"

"Come with me. Or, do you prefer to see Tomo killed?"

Tomo looked at her venomously. He knew there was more to her than what he perceived. But why Shinta as well? Meiling looked at Tomo, laying there. He seemed well. She could tell that he was well, and it was going to take a lot more than a lamp to kill him. Warily, she shook her head. Fang shot her a questionable glance.

"Well then, I'm going to have to take you out of here by force. My love?"

Syaoran made a grab for her, but she quickly dodged it. "You know, you're terrible at controlling people. Seems Yang-Chan was better.." She pushed the right button. Fang made a grab for her, but in her fury, she forgot about Tomo. He tackled her down, causing more crashes to erupt.

Sakura and Xing heard the noises and rushed as fast as possible to Meiling's room. Xing's room was closer and he reached her room faster than Sakura. Sakura was right behind him, and as she entered the room, her wand was already out.

"Tomo...?" Xing asked amazed. His mind flashed back to Shinta's dream, and Sakura's comment. He was alive.

Fang whipped her head up at him. Tomo was still on top of her. She cursed herself for having been followed by Tomo. "Seems we'll meet again sometime, little bird. Until then, my love, Tomo, let's go." With a snap of her fingers, Syaoran, Tomo, and Fang were gone.

Meiling looked at where Syaoran's figure was last present and fell in a heap on the floor. "Meiling!" Sakura shouted as she rushed to the side of her friend.

- - -

Jing waited. He knew what was going on. It was he who purposely was talking about Fang's mission in ear shot of him, hoping to make him stop Fang. Jing silently witnessed the whole thing in Fang's little bowl. Now he had a good enough reason to get rid of her once and for all. Besides, Syaoran was good enough, and he had Shinta. There was nothing he could lose. Meiling seemed to be getting closer and closer to the dark side. It seemed only a night or two more, and she'd be ready for his plans.

Fang appeared in her room with Tomo and Syaoran. When she saw Jing in her room, her eyes lit up in fear. "Jing...what are you..."

He held up a hand to silence her. "Tomo, Syaoran, leave."

They obediently bowed to him, and left the room in silence. As the door clicked, Jing walked closer to her. "Fang, Fang, Fang...what am I going to do with you?"

She appeared to be innocent, looking at him curiously.

"You know that I know all, right?" he could feel her take a shaky breath. He could feel her heart beat faster. He gently touched her cold, pale skin, loving how her dark green clothes accentuated her features. Even her long, dark, hair seemed to make her the epitome of a vampire from the movies. She had been a very good servant, loyal, faithful, beautiful, and strong. She had a certain perseverance that he liked about her. But, in the game of power, all good things must come to an end.

"Fang, you disappointed me..." She continued to watch him with pleading eyes. It had only been one mistake. Her only mistake. "You know how much I hate failure, right?"

She nodded. She knew only too well the fate of Chansa, and what he had done to her. She paid with her life. But Chansa was different. She made many mistakes. She was sure that he was going to give her another chance, so why was she so afraid?

He grabbed her chin violently. "I saw what happened. You were followed. That's a big mistake, that cost us Meiling tonight." She still said nothing, afraid that her words would only make him more angry. "You know Fang, I hate that. Do you know what's going to happen?"

Fang delicately nodded her head. She knew all too well what was in store for her. "Then, I wish you well in the after life." A blade was conjured from thin air, and was violently thrust in her. Blood seeped from her mouth, and she a small tear ran from her eye. Jing held her close, watching the precious vampire die in his arms. As her final breath passed, he set her to fire, just like Chansa, and ordered her ashes be swept up immediately.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? I'm starting to believe that I'm going to have to change the rating to M. What do you think? If so, then the next update the story will be boosted to M, if not, it'll stay at T. I myself was enjoying this chapter all too well, and may when I reread parts of it, I mesmorized myself. That's hard to do. So, I'm hoping it had the same effect on you? Now, I'd like to answer a few of my reviews, which I'm going to have to thank you all for reviewing. It really did help boost the writing process! Before I do answer some of my reviews, I'd like to make a special thank you to Inuyasha's Babe! I'm so honored that you actually requested my story to a friend! You don't know what that means to me! So, I'm going to put you on a Hall of Fame (when I make it) to my writing site! Congrats! Onward to the answering!

**jiGz**: So guys actually read this? Huh, that's interesting. I'm glad I caught your attention! I've been wondering for the longest time if there were guys that actually read my stories, but you're the first one to actually admit it. It makes me happy to know that my stories can also be enjoyed by boys because I get the feeling that I'm writing something for everyone. Who invited you to read my story?

**i am an anime die hard**: Wow, I'm flattered that you enjoyed this story so much! Don't worry, I'm going to see this little story to the end!

**aoshi's babe**: Thanks for telling me that this is great. I didn't think it lived quite up to the first story, I Will Love You Always. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe this one is better? If so, that'd be awesome since it's always harder to live up to your first story, you know? Or maybe that just signifies to movies?

**red lantern**: Don't worry, if there wasn't enough power here for you, there soon will be. Trust me. I love writing about that stuff, and I'm starting to get real antsy about typing it down, but most of that won't happen for another chapter or two.

I'd also like to thank janine-chan, systray, and L Flare for their reviews! Don't worry, I'll be updating as soon as soon as I can!


	9. Midnight Brawl

Two days went by and Tomo watched Syaoran. Although Fang was no longer, he still seemed to be a puppet. Something wasn't right. He made occasional visits to Shinta throughout the day, but that always set him in a far bitter mood for hours because he had to treat her so poorly. Syaoran seemed oblivious to his surroundings. He never questioned why he was there or for what, and there was no mention of Meiling either. Finally, the boys were summoned to Jing.

"I've been watching our dear bird. Tonight's the night. I want her here, if not the both of you will be exterminated."

The two bowed and left to the Li household.

- - -

With Ice, Shinta, and Syaoran gone, the house seemed emptier. Sakura and Meiling went on with training as planned, but Meiling didn't put her whole heart into it. It seemed with Syaoran gone, her whole world had collapsed. She was the most susceptible to depression in her knit of friends. After all, it was she who had gone through the most emotional problems in her mere sixteen years of life. Sakura had tried her best to console her friend, but nothing helped. Tomoyo offered to come once Sakura told her about Meiling's condition over the phone, but Sakura said it'd be best if she stayed in Japan. Besides, she was going to return in a week.

Besides the training, Meiling just shut herself in her room. She didn't want to see anyone, she wouldn't even listen to anyone's advice. All she wanted was to be alone.

It was finally late at night, and after a rather rough training session Meiling left to her room. She didn't hear Sakura and Xing's attempts at trying to cheer her up. She slid the door to her room open, closed it, and then turned on the light. What she saw sitting on her bed, surprised her. "Sy-Syaoran, To-Tomo?"

He looked at her. It wasn't apparent a couple days ago when he was under Fang's control, but she could see it now. Those bored, hypnotic eyes stared deeply into hers. Tomo smiled at her, but didn't say anything.

"What are you doing here?" she asked calmly after getting over her immediate shock.

Syaoran didn't say anything. It seemed he was incapable of speaking. "We want you to come with us." Tomo answered.

There was no complaint, nor any question as to why. She obediently nodded and in an instant, they left.

- - -

Jing was sitting patiently. The door opened and in walked the two boys he had just sent a mere thirty minutes or so ago, along with the Chinese maiden. Her hair was a bit disheveled looking, but besides that, she was just as beautiful as ever. He smiled at her, but she didn't respond to it.

"Welcome my little bird. How was your trip?"

"What did you do to him?" she queried curtly. She looked at him with coldness, her eyes holding nothing but pure hatred.

"My, my, aren't we a little angry?"

"What do you want with me?" Jing sighed. Her stubbornness hadn't changed a bit in all of her years of existence.

"What do I want with you? I want your power...I want to be stronger...That's why you're here."

"Is that it?"

Jing nodded. She was very amusing when she was angry and depressed.

"What about Syaoran?"

"What about him?"

"What will you do to him once you have my powers? Kill him, and then me? What?"

"There's no point in unnecessary blood shed once I have what I want, is there? I may let him free, I may keep him. Depends on how I feel once I have your powers."

She eyed him oddly. The conversation had an eerie feeling from start to finish. Tomo and Syaoran just stood there, as if they hadn't heard a word. They were like puppets with a human body.

"So, what will be your decision?"

"Do you have Shinta?"

"Shinta is none of your concern." he said with finality.

She looked around the room. Although she didn't want to give him her powers, the powers that she was supposedly born without, she wanted to do the thing that would keep Syaoran and her alive. So, for now, stalling for time was the only thing she could manage.

* * *

Sakura and Xing had had enough. They thought Meiling was acting childish and selfish. This of course was all due to her pride and stubbornness. A deadly combination. The two walked determinedly at her door and knocked. There was no answer, which was usual. This time however, they slid the door open. 

Their eyes searched the room quickly, and Meiling was nowhere to be found. "Where is she?" Sakura asked timidly.

Xing took another scope around the room. A lone letter was laying on the bed. "There's a letter..."

"You don't think she ran away? She did that once, but she went to Tomoyo's house...Though I suppose it really wasn't running away, she just told Syaoran she was going..."

"I...don't know..." He walked over and gingerly picked it up. Sakura stood behind him, and read the letter from behind his shoulder. "She's in trouble. Come on, you're going to have to take us there. I'll tell you where to fly."

Sakura nodded her head, full of determination. Not only was Meiling in danger, but Syaoran, Tomo, and Shinta. This time the enemy had gone too far. All of their lives were distorted, it wasn't like a time so long ago when Soo Young had taken her friends. They were just in hibernation, and they forgot the whole experience. This experience wasn't like that. They were all wide awake and able to remember every bit of this nightmare.

She quickly unleashed her Star Wand, and in an instant they were flying over Hong Kong.

* * *

Jing grabbed her, and held her. She squirmed under him, trying to get away. He was cold, like ice and his body held a peculiar odor. Something like death and old mixed together, but it was subtle, and there seemed to be something more though she couldn't tell what. Syaoran watched, expressionlessly. 

_Get your hands off of her! Why isn't my body responding? _Syaoran thought frantically. Tomo watched the brunette boy out of the corner of his eye. If Syaoran could find some control over his body, then in an instant he'd be there to help. But for now, the only backup he had was Meiling who hadn't fully realized her powers, and he couldn't risk losing his cover or Shinta to help her now. All he could do was choke down his anger and watch helplessly.

"Meiling...there isn't much to think about. All you have to do is hand over your powers and I promise you, everything will be fine. You and Syaoran can go and live your normal lives."

"What about Tomo? And Shinta? Will you let them go?"

"If they so wish..."

She bit the bottom of her lip. The situation was getting more pressing, and she knew Jing wasn't planning on being more patient with her. His hold on her was starting to get more tight, and she knew he'd take drastic measures to get what he wanted.

* * *

"Over there!" Xing yelled. Sakura spiraled downward to a deserted street. Before she could properly make a landing, they were surrounded by seven vampires. 

"Mmm, look at that brunette."

"It's been so long since we've had human blood."

"First bite's mine." They muttered, while eyeing them. Their nails had grown into deadly claws, and their fangs were shown. A pretty vampire with long light brown hair licked her lips. "My, my, if it isn't Xing. I want a taste of your blood."

"I don't think so..." he looked down and quickly judged the distance between him and the floor below. It looked like he'd be able to make it fine. "Drop me!"

Without a moments hesitation Sakura quickly dropped him, while summoning Sword. A vampire made their way down to try and attack Xing while he was still airborne, but he managed to hit ground and defend himself before the vampire could pull in a deadly attack. The scrape was still deep, but wasn't anything too bad to worry about for now.

A couple more vampires decided to join in on killing their old comrade. The brunette was one of them. Without his vampire blood, he wasn't able to keep them off of him for too long. They were relentless in their killing. Seeing his red blood seemed to excite them, and it caused them to get even faster and more accurate.

Sakura wasn't doing much good herself. She kept changing cards. Fire, Freeze, Wind, Sword, Dash, Wood, Earth, Water, Sword, Freeze, Wind, Arrow, Earth, Fire, Mist, until it just kept going into a never ending cycle. The vampires were all unaffected by it, and she was taking hits fast. Her magic powers were being depleted, and she felt as helpless as newborn baby. She tried to hold in her screams of pain, but when a vampire lashed out on her again, she couldn't take it anymore.

Her scream filled the air, and even though they were in a residential neighborhood, nobody came out to see who had screamed. In fact she was starting to think that the neighborhood was dead.

She held no more magic power to sustain her wings, and she started falling. The vampires, eager to have some human blood for a change, seemed to all race to her. Xing, badly injured, tried his best to distract them but to no avail. It seemed to be the end of the two, because once finished with Sakura they were sure to go for him.

As if in slow motion, a gust of cold air and ice emanated from nowhere. The vampires were distracted and Xing was able to catch the falling cherry blossom. In an instant, ice enveloped them, and they were no more a menace. Xing looked up in the sky and saw his favorite blue haired demon, Ice. She had come to their rescue.

"Are we glad to see you." Xing told her.

Sakura weakly smiled at her. "Well, did you think I was going to let you die? I may have left, but I've been watching everyone."

"Mei...Wha...abou...Mei?" Sakura finally managed to say.

"We need to move fast. Jing would have known about his little minions by now. Come on!" Ice gently took Sakura from Xing, and led him down the street to an ordinary looking house.

* * *

A/N: Hello there! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! It seems that this story is coming to a close very quickly. I keep getting distracted and keep procrastinating, so I didn't realize I put off the chapter for so long. Time flies when you're working. I'd like to thank Inuyasha's Babe, red lantern, jigz, and Kawaii Descendant for their reviews! 

**Inuyasha's Babe**: I'm honored and embarrassed that you think I'm not only a great author, but a genius.

**Anonymous**: Yes, this really is the sequel to I Will Love You Always. I changed the name basically because I was addicted to the song at the time. Though the other part of the explanation is a bit long, so I'll just direct you to the other reason why I changed it at the end of this author note.

**Kawaii Descendant**: Another MeiLi devoter huh? That's so great! Yes, I am a HUGE MeiLi supporter ever since I first laid eyes on Meilin in CC. I did like Sakura, but never did like the idea of her with Syaoran. So, my favorite character changed from Sakura to Meilin in an instant. It was kind of funny when I think back on it. And there are WAY too many S+S fics out there. It's pretty crazy.

So that's the end of those. I'd like to make a shameless advertisement now. If you actually enjoy reading my works, why not check out my writing collective? Not only will there be special sneak peaks of upcoming chapters (if I write enough for one, sometimes I just write a chapter in a day so then there won't be one), but you can read other fanfics, see my writing ideas, and read some original work. There's even a tagboard on the site, so you can chat with each other or me on there. For Anonymous, there is a FULL explaination on the name change. I'm planning on having a writer's help center as well. So, if you want to go to the site, the link is: freewebs . com/maressoul (Don't include the spaces between the dot, it was the only way I could add it) Thanks again for reviewing, and please review this chapter!


	10. Guardian Angels

**Music to Utada Hikaru's "Simple and Clean" starts  
****When you walk away  
****You don't hear me say  
****Please, oh baby, don't go  
****Simple and Clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
****It's hard to let it go**

"So, what will it be?" Jing whispered again. Meiling looked around the room, as if the answer to her problems would lie there. But just as she thought she was going to have to give him her answer in a life or death situation, he immediately let go. "They're coming..." he muttered angrily. "Tomo, why don't you go take them on?"

Tomo stood there, immobile. They were coming. Now he could save Meiling and be rid of Jing. "Tomo, I gave you an order."

**You're giving me  
****Too many things, lately  
****You're all I need  
****You smiled at me and said**

"I don't think so, Jing."

"You think I'm ignorant enough to not have realized you weren't under my spell? You asked earlier why I wanted Shinta, well now you know." He clapped his hands and in an instant, Shinta was brought out, bound and hurt. The two vampires that had a hold on her licked their lips and twisted her arms so they could hear her scream. Tomo looked at Jing in disgust. He should have seen it coming, but in his euphoria of seeing Shinta with him, he didn't realize Jing's overall plan. "I believe this is checkmate? Now, do as I say or else Shinta will be hurt."

Meiling looked at the two and at Shinta. She saw only one window of opportunity to save Shinta that Jing seemed to have overlooked. Stalling for time, Meiling opened her mouth. "I'll give you my powers!"

**Don't get me wrong I love you,  
****But does that mean I have to meet your father?  
****When we are older you will understand what I meant when I said "No  
****I don't think life is quite that simple"**

The tension that was rising, fell. Everyone's attention went to Meiling, and in that moment time seemed to stop. She quickly used Time's powers to stop time and undid Shinta's bindings and led her out the house. She made her way once again back to the room, and just when she was about to grab Tomo, her time powers gave way, and once again Jing grabbed her.

"What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"You know exactly what I mean."

The door burst open and Jing looked up to see Sakura, Ice, and Xing.

**When you walk away  
****You don't hear me say  
****Please, oh baby, don't go  
****Simple and Clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
****It's hard to let it go**

"Let her go." Sakura said determinedly despite the fact that she was in no condition to fight. Jing flung Meiling to the ground and looked over the group. He had the upper hand. With the stealth of a cheetah he made his way over to Sakura, and put a long knife to her throat.

"Come any closer and she'll die."

Meiling looked at him with determination. "Then I won't come closer." She snapped her fingers, and fire came sprouting out. She quickly threw the flame toward Jing, who was surprised that she'd do such a bold move when he was so close to her friend. Sakura closed her eyes, and felt the heat of the flame pass by her. In an instant, the knife was let go and Sakura was back with Ice and Xing.

"Don't you care about your friend?"

"All I care about is seeing you dead!" She rushed out, sword appearing in her hand due to the Sword's powers. The knife that had fell from Jing's hand swept right back into his hand, and the two weapons clashed. The fight for their lives had started, and the outcome was unknown.

**The daily things  
****That keep us all busy  
****Are confusing me  
****That's when you came to me and said**

The two vampires went after Tomo, Xing, Sakura, and Ice. Due to their last battle, Tomo and Ice had to fight to keep the vampires away from Xing and Sakura. Syaoran was of no use, just standing there expressionless, in the midst of the action.

"Is that all you got?" Jing asked Meiling, as he flung her across the room.

She smirked. "I'm just warming up." She flung herself toward him, all the while dodging Ice's attack and a vampire's claws.

_I have to help...she needs my help..._ Syaoran thought. Though it seemed Meiling was doing fine on her own, Syaoran knew better. She was starting to attack without thought of the consequences and Jing kept taunting her.

Sakura had feebly managed to get her wings on, and she hovered above everyone, trying to avoid all attacks. Seeing this, Jing pretended to be putting on a deadly attack, and at the last second jumped and attacked Sakura.

**Wish I could prove I love you  
But does that mean I have to walk on water?  
When we are older you will understand  
It's enough when I say so  
And maybe some things are that simple**

Meiling realized his plan at the last second. There was no way for her to protect her friend, and when the others tried to get to her, the vampires kept getting in the way. She looked like a fallen bird on the ground, with her wings curled around her. Blood was splattered on an edge and it was just a matter of time before Jing induced the fatal attack. Meiling tried to call upon the powers of Time, but it was to no avail. She was sapped out of energy.

**When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go**

"Sakura!" she shouted, while trying to get to her. One of the vampires came up and easily flung her to a side. She didn't realize that she was so weak.

Suddenly a blast of energy hurled Jing across the room before he could do anything. Everyone but Syaoran looked toward the door to see Shinta. Her eyes were glowing, and there seemed to be an aura of powerful energy surrounding her. "Get up. Let's fight."

Jing glared at her and the room was soon swept away by their energy. Balls of energy clashed and swirled and by the time everything had cleared, it was evident that it was taking a toll on the both of them.

**Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before**

Taking advantage of the situation, Meiling made her way over to Syaoran. "Syaoran, wake up. Please..." She pleaded with him, and just when she thought nothing would move him, a vampire grabbed her by her throat.

"You're so beautiful..."

"Sy-Sy-Syaoran!"

"He won't help you..." he said as he brung his mouth down over her throat. Tears started to form in her eyes, and as they fell, Syaoran found he could finally move his body.

He grabbed the vampire's hair and pulled his head back. "Let. Go. Of. Her. Now."

Though his head was being pulled back, the vampire still looked mockingly at him. "Or what?"

**When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go**

In that instant an ice arrow came hurling into him. The vampire looked over at Ice in shock, who held a defiant gaze. In all the confusion, Tomo had managed to get the dagger that could kill vampires and quickly sliced him. "One down, welcome back Syaoran." he managed to say before going off to help Shinta.

Shinta was holding her own against Jing but it wasn't enough. As they all tried their best, none of them could get Jing down in time. Jing quickly took advantage of Shinta's weakening strength and killed her in midair. The group looked at the blonde, who held a smile on her face as Tomo made his way toward her. She whispered something in his ear, and as she passed away, Jing and the remaining vampire took advantage of the shock.

Xing didn't realize what was coming when it happened. Sakura, sensing something might be wrong, looked up to see Jing and the vampire sneak up on Xing. "XING!" she screamed, but it was too late. They had gotten him.

Tomo and Ice backed up toward the remaining group. "Can you guys do anything?" Tomo asked. Meiling concentrated on forming another fire attack, but when that didn't work, she shook her head.

"We're still too weak..."

"Then there's only one thing to do." Ice said. Tomo nodded knowingly.

"How long did you know of our purpose, Ice?" Tomo whispered to her.

"Since the second part of this whole ordeal started."

**Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before  
****"Simple and Clean" ends**

Syaoran held Meiling close, as the trio all wondered what Ice had meant. With a quick flick, Tomo had managed to throw the dagger into the remaining vampire, instantly killing him. All that was left was Jing.

"I told you I have you in checkmate." Jing taunted.

"I don't think so, you haven't realized we've won." Ice spat.

In his anger, he didn't realize that Tomo and Ice walked right into death. Meiling screamed and Syaoran had to hold her back. Sakura turned her head, and cried in silence.

"See, I've won!" Jing said triumphantly.

With those words, a blue light emitted from Tomo, Ice, Xing, and Shinta. They swirled around and hit Meiling. As it hit, she felt rejuvenated. Her energy had come back ten fold. Summoning up all of the energy, she blasted Jing with all of it. It hit him so fast, there was nothing he could do. As his screams died away, all three of them fell into a deep sleep.

- - -

Light hit Meiling's face. The birds were already chattering to each other, and she sat up immediately. She looked around her surroundings and noticed, she was in her room. Startled, she looked around for Syaoran and Sakura, but saw neither.

She rushed out of her room, and headed toward Sakura's. She quickly slid the door, but found her gone. Confused, she made her way to Syaoran's room. He was nowhere to be found either. Meiling looked around the house again. It looked liked the Li house. She touched the silk fabric of her pajamas and wondered when she had changed into them.

Hands covered her eyes, surprising her. "Guess who?" a male voice questioned.

"Syaoran!" she cried, turning around and embracing him.

"What a night, huh?"

She nodded. "How'd we end up here?" Syaoran shrugged.

"Got a present." She looked questioningly at him, and frowned when he handed her the newspaper. "Sakura fixed breakfast."

She scanned the front page. 'Mysterious fire burns entire neighborhood. Sixty dead.' Meiling's legs took her to the kitchen, where she sat down, and Sakura solemnly handed her her plate.

Meiling muttered her thanks. "It really...happened, huh? That wasn't a dream?"

"No..." Sakura answered.

"That was some night. I don't want that it to happen again." Syaoran groaned.

"What do you think Ice meant when she said 'Then there's only one thing to do.'?" Sakura wondered aloud.

A tear slid down Meiling's face when she realized why they hadn't died at the fall of Yang-Chan. "They were our guardian angels..."

* * *

A/N: Sorry to say, this is the end! No more after this! Unless I get inspired by something and turn this into a trilogy. But, after I get done writing my Cowboy Bebop fic : Dealing, I'm going on a little hiatus. The only other thing that I'll end up writing is my original stories. It's about time I stopped neglecting them. After that, I'll come back with some InuYasha fics. I'm happy to say that I finished changing hosts on my writing site, and if you guys really miss me, you can leave a message on my tagboard.If you go to my profile, you should see a link to my writing site: Mare's Soul at the bottom under Special Notice or something like that. Thanks for all of your support! I hope you enjoyed this end! Don't forget to review!


End file.
